As an author I find myself lurking around every corner for inspiration. Sometimes it's a comment I overhear; other times it might be something I see. Recently I spend some time browsing the NET for pictures of Native Americans. Now, while I didn't find an image that I was looking for, I did find many, many other incredible "hotties". Each one brought about a different idea in my mind for future reference in the story lines.

This got me thinking.... Do all book characters need to be "HOT"? No, they do not. Do we want them to be? Most of the time, yes. Why? Because this is our "fantasy world" that we can escape into to get away from the day-to-day grind. Right?

Well, I have tried, through my books, to remind people that you don't have to be "society perfect" to be an amazing and sexy person. Some of my characters are curvaceous; some have imperfections; some have checkered pasts. Does this mean they are unattractive? Not to me.

What makes a character interesting to you? To me it is someone who has depth; what's below the surface. I want readers to see what's underneath the exterior and then look at the outside. What molded the character into the "person" they are "today". That's the things that are most important to me when I'm writing about them.

I realize some people think authors are a bit off kilter when they talk about their characters "revealing" themselves in their (the author's) mind, but it does happen. I have found that while I may want a character to go a certain way, "they" don't always agree with my direction and fighting their true nature is futile.

So as an author, what do you do about these conflicts? Go with the flow..... I discovered not too long ago that "arguing" with your character's nature is pointless. When I attempted to do so, I hit a roadblock and couldn't get around it until I hedged and let the character be what "they" wanted to be.

Sometimes I wonder if we should look at this where society is concerned. Do we try to shape young people into what "we" want them to be and not let them explore their own choices? Something to think about.

On another note.... for your viewing pleasure, here are a few pics that brought some inspiration my way....(I do not own the rights to these pics. They are from Google images.)

I thought I would try something different this weekend in honor of Labor Day... For those who appreciate "eye candy" here are a few pics for you to enjoy and while you're grabbing the Sham-wow to mop up the drool, remember those who do labor each and every day, especially our men (and women) in uniform.

*Note - I do not own the rights to these images. They were found through Google search engine.